Startup India

Launched in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, this new service allows office goers to avail and offer rides in their personal cars, while commuting between home and workplace.

“rPool is a systematic solution not only to decongest roads, but also offer commuters a viable option that helps them save fuel and time. With the right implementation and adoption at scale, it can significantly reduce vehicular traffic during peak hours in urban cities”— Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus

Online bus ticket booking platform redBus on Wednesday announced the launch of an advanced carpooling service, rPool. Launched in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, this new service allows office goers to avail and offer rides in their personal cars, while commuting between home and workplace. RPool can be accessed directly from the redBus mobile app.

Intense traffic and congestion problems in Indian cities prompted the company to launch the service. Prakash Sangam, CEO of redBus, said, “rPool, our new carpooling service, is a systematic solution, not only to decongest roads, but also offer commuters a viable option that helps them save fuel and time. With the right implementation and adoption at scale, carpooling can significantly reduce vehicular traffic during peak hours in urban cities.”

RPool will give its users multiple options to select riders to commute with through the app’s matching algorithm. redBus said, for security reasons, rPool is restricted to working professionals undertaking daily commute. Users are verified through their mobile numbers and their organisation’s corporate email id.

Phone numbers are masked, a feature also present in Uber. Ride takers on rPool would be provided accident insurance free of cost for each ride. Ride providers would also receive incentives in the form of reward points that can be redeemed at fuel stations and Amazon Pay.

To promote the new service, as an inaugural offer, redBus won’t charge any commission fee from the first 500 ride providers in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and, Pune each for the first five years.

User profiles will be created on the basis of user reviews, allowing participants the option to choose the people they wish to travel with, based on their ratings.The platform also offers women ride providers or takers to choose to travel with women alone, as an option.

“By allowing three-four trips by a single vehicle, carpooling can contribute to reduced congestion as well as lower GHG emissions and air pollution — for which transportation is a major source,” said Chaitanya Kanuri, research analyst in the cities and transport department of World Resources Institute India (WRI India).

“Care must be taken, however, to ensure that ride givers on carpooling platforms are only permitted to share costs of fuel and vehicle use with other co-passengers without imposing any additional charges, this is in line with carpooling regulations in other countries like the US and France,” she added.